Look at the state of the world. It’s pretty bleak with huge challenges in terms of growing inequalities. So, it’s more important than ever to support those who have less opportunities by giving them better access to sport as it brings so much light and positivity to people’s lives.
This rallying cry comes from Rajma Begum, whose term as a Sport Wales Board Member recently came to an end after seven years.
The role of a Sport Wales Board Member is to provide leadership, governance and strategic direction for the organisation, with each Board Member bringing their own valuable experience.
In Rajma’s case, she brought a passion and working knowledge of social justice, equality and diversity. Away from her Board role, many Sport Wales colleagues will know Rajma from her work with the WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action) and Sport Diversity Cymru.
As she departs, along with Nicola Mead-Batten and Hannah Bruce, three new Board Members have taken their place after being appointed by Welsh Government. They each bring their own specialist knowledge to drive Sport Wales on to continue tackling inequalities as well as our other key areas of work.
Welcoming our new Board Members
Our new Board Members are (in photography order, left to right) Dr Anna Bryant, Parul Patel and Phil Newman. Anna has vast experience of the education sector, while Parul brings legal expertise, and Phil has an extensive background in equalities, diversity and inclusion as well as safeguarding.
It is this potent mix of expertise which makes for an effective Board, as fellow Sport Wales Board Member, Dr Alison Parken OBE explains:
One of our roles is to support the Sport Wales executive team by offering our perspectives, so having a blend of experience across various relevant sectors enables us to challenge the team in a healthy way. This includes flagging any risks and pointing out potential pitfalls so that ultimately, we can achieve what we set out to do.
(Dr Alison Parken OBE)
Just like Rajma, Alison is passionate about inequalities and is proud of Sport Wales’ approach to tackling barriers to physical activity:
The fact that Sport Wales awards funding based on the ability of organisations and clubs to address inequalities shows that equalities, diversity and inclusion is not just an add-on,” she says. “Instead, it’s integral to the way Sport Wales works and this is something to be very proud of.
Sport Wales recognises that the biggest way to make inroads into creating a more active nation is to focus on young people.
This approach really resonates with new Board Member Dr Anna Bryant.
Anna is Director of Teacher Education and Professional Learning and Reader in Physical Health Education at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is also a former teacher and actually gained her PhD by studying the impact of a Sport Wales initiative – the 5x60 scheme, which ran in schools across Wales from 2006 - 2017. Anna said:
I’ve always been very interested in helping young people to achieve their potential. It’s vital that children develop a positive relationship with movement and physical activity so I’m really enthused about Sport Wales’ work on the Daily Active approach as well as the Foundations Framework Wales.
“I completely agree with the importance of both initiatives. The positive consequences of getting children to move more are immense. For example, just imagine how much more able children would be to concentrate and thrive in core subjects such as English and Maths if their all-round health and wellbeing is improved thanks to a more active lifestyle?
If you’d like to find out more about how the Sport Wales Board operates, you are welcome to speak to Emma Wilkins about dropping in to observe at a future meeting. You can also read more about our current Board Members on our website.